#46 Boston - Marathon Madness - April 21, 2006

Well, wasn't that a crazy day - Monday, April 17th, Patriot's Day (a Massachusetts Holiday), also known as Marathon Day here in the hub. It is one of the nuttiest days of the year in Boston, and if you do not have any business in the center of Boston, it is best to be far far away (unless you like that kind of circus, of course). And guess who was in the midst of all this madness? Yep, yours truly.

It seemed a bit of a toss-up between watching THE MARATHON (http://www.bostonmarathon.org) and possibly attending Patriot's Day activities (re-enactments of American Revolution battles etc - people running around with muskets and other such acts of silliness), but that conflict was resolved quickly on Monday morning, when my friend Ken called and offered to share with me Red Sox tickets that he had won at a raffle. You don't have to ask me twice to go to Fenway Park! Ha! So here I was - drinking beer, eating pretzels and hot dogs around 11 AM Monday morning (it was almost lunch!!) - life was certainly very good. While the weather was a bit on the chilly side, the action on the field was hot; the game against the Seattle Mariners ended up being a real nail biter, and came to a happy end for us when Mark Loretta hit a walkoff two-run homerun in the 9th inning!! How exciting was that! High-fives and hugs went around the stadium and lots of happy faces were seen on the way out.

As if it wasn't enough to be hanging out with 33,871 people (= capacity of Fenway park, the lowest in the major leagues - http://www.ballparks.com/baseball/american/fenway.htm), I headed for the marathon madness following the game. After a slight struggle through what can only be described as pedestrian hell, I managed to snag a pretty nice spot on the corner of Hereford and Comm Ave and was able to cheer on the Marathon runners. At this point all the people passing us were at Mile 25.5 and our shouts of "looking good" did seem a bit inappropriate, even though some of the runners looked as if they had barely broken a sweat. Both the winners (male and female) were from Kenya, but the US did make some strides this year by placing 5 of the top ten runners. Just as with every good race, there was a sizeable contingent of runners in costume including bunny suits, Wonder Woman, a Samurai warrior and of course the our friends, the jogglers (http://yourphotos.boston.com/pages/gallery.php?gallery=766). Try running 26.2 miles and juggle three balls at the same time!! Impressive! It was quite a day, all in all, and it ended with my meeting up with my wonderful friend Denise Schubert, who not only completed her first ever marathon, but also managed to raise a substantial amount of money for Parenting At a Challenging Time" (PACT) in support of MGH adult cancer patients and their families. Congratulations!!!

Compared to Monday, Easter Weekend was pretty relaxed and filled with mostly food-related activities (plus we threw in a little retail therapy - why not?). My friend Joanne had taken pity on my lonely self and after a very successful shoe-shopping adventure on Saturday afternoon we enjoyed a restful dinner at California Pizza Kitchen in Cambridge. I know, not haute cuisine, but it was actually pretty agreeable. Along with Joanne and a gaggle of her friends I continued my foodie weekend on Sunday morning with a brunch at the Diva Indian Bistro on Elm Street in Somerville (http://www.divabistro.com/) - very very yummy. And of course there was Easter Dinner at the Yancovitz mansion in Stoneham - great food (and lots of it), delightful company and spirited conversation. Needless to say I needed a crane to lift me out of the chair I was sitting in, but that was O.K.

The week has been cruising by - I had my first dinner guests this week, when Ellen and Patrick volunteered to be guinea pigs for my attempts at vegetarian cooking - and after a couple of horrific mid-week days I am ready for the weekend. I am heading up to Franconia, NH with a group of hiking buddies and boy am I ready for it!!

I am leaving you with a little trivia about New Hampshire (there will be quiz next week....) and promise to write again next week. Y'all be good.

pet:)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New Hampshire has 4 nicknames. The first is the one by which the state is commonly known. Granite State: For its extensive granite formations and quarries Mother of Rivers: For the rivers of New England that originate in its mountains White Mountain State: For the White Mountain Range Switzerland of America: For its beautiful mountain scenery

New Hampshire became the 9th state on June 21, 1788. It was one of the original 13 colonies.

Live Free or Die. The motto comes from a statement written by the Revolutionary General John Stark, hero of the Battle of Bennington.

New Hampshire was named for Hampshire, England by Captain John Smith

New Hampshire is heavily forested with an abundance of elm, maple, beech, oak, pine, hemlock and fir trees. Mount Washington features rare alpine plants such as Greenland sandwort, Labrador tea, alpine bearberry, dwarf cinquefoil and dwarf birch, willow and balsam fir.